Kagami Mochi

Japanese households display a decorated offering called kagami mochi from the end of year through January 7th.

I think the closest thing in the Western culture is Christmas wreath.

It’s basically two round mochi balls and daidai, a type of citrus, stuck on top of each other. Sometimes ornaments are more extravagant than the picture.

By the time finishing the display, kagami mochi will be partially molded and as hard as rocks. Still, Japanese must eat the mochi, as throwing out food made of rice is sacrilegious.

According to old Japanese calendar, the used kagami mochi has to be eaten on January 11th.

After the molds are shaved off with a sharp knife, the rock hard mochi balls are broken to smaller pieces using a hammer.

The broken mochi may be fried to make rice crackers, or grilled to eat as oshiruko or ozoni.

If you want to display kagami mochi in your living room to feel like you were in Japan, you could buy it at Japanese grocery stores around the end of year. Those are mass produced and packed tightly, so that you can keep yours fresh while it’s being displayed.